God Of football

Chapter 52: Malicia saves the day

”You know sometimes I wonder what goes through their minds” a Valencia fans said.

”Whose minds,Cuenca” a guy besides him spoke. ”The Coach. I get that he’s trying to experiment a bit but we’re losing”.

”At least give the kid a chance to make a difference. I have seen him play and that kid is good,maybe he can make a difference”.

”Well you got your wish Cuenca,seems like he’s coming on” Mendes said to Cuenca whiles pointing to the touchline.

Cuenca heard the applauds and turned to look at who they were applauding and it was none other than Izan.

Cuenca smiled before pumping a fist into the air. Mendes who was beside him couldn’t help but laugh at his brother’s action.

Izan after entering the pitch looked at the time on the display. ”73 minutes huh, its going to be tough” he thought.

He had seen the las palmas players play and their defence wasn’t to be trifled with but they were also conceding fouls.

”Should I use that” Izan thought. He had gained a new skill from the system after completing a task and it would be helpful in these situations.

Pepelu,who currently held the ball was looking for someone in space. His eyes moved around but lingered when it got to Izan.

Seeing this,Pepélu pretended to throw the ball to someone else. The las Palmas players moved accordingly but Pepélu stopped and threw it to Izan at the last minute.

Izan seeing the ball come his way,saw someone coming from behind out of the corner of his eye.

Choosing his next course of action,Izan let the ball bounce on the patch of grass just infront of his boot.

The ball after hitting the ground bounced over the incoming player. Izan then turned around to trap the ball keeping it from going any further.

The Valencia fans who saw this move were surprised at Izan’s cleverness. Izan after this passed the ball to Diakhaby who was further up the pitch.

Izan then continued to follow the ball. Mouctar Diakhaby controlled the ball from Izan and once again couldn’t help but mutter,” How are his passes so comfortable to take”.

Mouctar snapped out of his thoughts in a split second when he saw other opponent player coming near him.

He turned around and ran with the ball after seeing Izan already turning on the jets.

Hugo duro,the striker also turned and ran. Diakhaby not finding much to do with the ball sent it to Izan who was now running ahead.

The ball was moving very fast on the ground and not wanting to disrupt the attack by stopping to control it,Izan let the ball come to him and slip through his legs.

The ball also slipped through the legs of the incoming defender who was trying to challenge for it.

Izan then went around the defender who was also trying to hold onto his shirt. Izan dodged his action and took a touch of the ball before sending it to Hugo duro who had managed to stay onside.

Hugo duro who saw the ball coming his way was all smiles. It was just a defender between him and the keeper.

He could just get around the defender and score but at the moment he thought why not go for the spectacular.

The ball began its descent and not waiting for it to touch the ground Hugo went through with a volley.

The ball moved all over the place on its way to the goal. Seeing the power behind the ball,the Las palmas defender,Marmol moved out of the ball’s trajectory.

Alvaro Valles,the las palmas keeper was rooted to the spot and could only watch as the ball smacked the underside of the crossbar and rustle the net.

Silence rang across the stadium but then ’Goooooooooooaaaaaa llllllllllaaaaassssssooooooooooooo’

The Valencia fans went crazy after the goal. The stadium was a party. One could even feel tremor from the fans jumping up and down.

The Valencia players both on the field and bench ran to where Hugo duro was pointing to Izan.

Izan approached Hugo who pulled Izan in for a hug. The other players approached and jumped into the hug.

”Hey I was open”Pietro who was still on the pitch said. ”You could have passed for me to score my first goal of the season” he added.

”Go away,you’re off” Izan said whiles pointing to the touchline. Pietro turned around and saw his number in red on the board.

He knelt down comically whiles screaming ’No’. This made for a good laugh as both players and the fans near the pitch started laughing.

”Man,I love pietro,he’s good and at the same time,its like he’s the comic relief of the team” a fan said.

”I know right ” another affirmed. The Valencia players returned to their half after the celebration.

Coach Baraja who was on the touchline smile and nodded at Izan. Whenever this kid came on,its like he breathed new life into the team.

Coach Baraja wanted the team to not rely too much on the kid as it could hurt in the long run when the kid leaves.

Yeah,someone of Izan’s caliber wasn’t going to sit at this club for a long time. Even now,the board was pressuring to sell him before his hype went down but he had intervened saying he could win some silverware with the kid as the core of the team.

He now had to face the consequences of his words. Coach Baraja shook his head and turned his attention to the match that had restarted.

Las palmas had now put all players at the back in hopes that the match could end as a draw since they knew they’d lose if they held more possession.

Valencia’s attack however was relentless. Izan after getting the ball from midfield went on an amazing run before trying his luck from outside the box but was left frustrated with a spectacular save from Alvaro Valles.

The barrage continued until the 90th minute. Time was running out and Izan finally decided to use his skill.

Izan took the ball from Cenk Ożkacar after dropping back. Izan after receiving the ball activated his [Focus] skill which shut out all distractions.

Izan then activated his” trickster ”trait which improved his success rate when performing high level skills.

Izan after activating these two skills went on Rampage. Using a few fast paced Stepovers he got rid of the first opponent.Izan used an Elastico on the next player.

The fans in the stadium were stunned by Izan’s display of skill. He ran,snaking around opponents. All the attention in the stadium was now on him.

”Stop him,foul,anything” Garcia Pimento,las palmas’ Coach screamed. He had been watching Izan ever since he came on and that kid had cause his blood pressure to rise.

Izan had brought him on edge ever since he came on. The las palmas players who had heard their coach’s instructions began to put it into play.

Some held onto Izan’s shirt but it was like Izan was bathed with oil as he felt as slippery as an eel. [P.diddy]

Izan had just stepped into the final third,just a few metres shy of the penalty box when Marmol approached him.

”System, proceed with it” Izan said with a thought.

’Ding [Malicia] has been activated’. The sound rang through Izan’s head. Just then Izan flicked the ball to the left.

Marmol tried following the ball but Izan quickly nudged the ball in the other direction.

Marmol who was locked in place couldn’t move. Izan had just stepped into the penalty box when he felt a tug on his shirt.

Izan who felt this fell to the ground. The referee who saw Izan fall waved play on as he didn’t see what went on.

Coach Baraja raised his hands and shouted to the referee after seeing this.

The assistant referee on the touchline approached him and told him to behave.

The protest of both the Valencia fans and players fell on deaf ears as the referee didn’t pay them any heed.

Jose Gaya took control of the ball and kicked it out of play whiles gesturing for the referee to go check VAR.

The referee finally paused the match and after talking a bit with the video room assistants,he headed to the VAR near the tunnel.

The Valencia fans and players looked on hopefully while the Las palmas players and fans were praying that a penalty should not be the case.

After a while,the referee who had seen enough came back to the pitch with the whole stadium looking on.

After making the square sign,the referee pointed to the spot indicating that it was a penalty.

The Valencia players and fans all raised their hands and voices in celebration. The las palmas players approached the referee trying to get him to overturn his decision.

This led to a back and forth between the referee and the players and only stopped when the referee gave a Las Palmas players a yellow card.

Izan who was looking over at the commotion between the referee and the las palmas player saw the ball coming his way.

Jose Gaya had given the penalty to Izan. Izan smiled at him and moved to the penalty spot.

The Valencia fans looked on as he set the ball on the spot. The referee made sure no player was in the box except Izan and the keeper.

After making sure everything was alright,the referee blew the whistle. Izan looked at the keeper not taking his eyes off him.

The keeper was a bit unsettled by the way Izan was staring at him. Izan made the runup to the ball and pulled his leg back as if going for a monster shot.

Alvaro Valles who had seen Izan looking at the left side commited to his right but unfortunately for him,Izan sent the ball the other way.

The ball moved slowly on its way as if teasing Alvaro Valles. The latter tried to get to the ball but it had already entered the net when he stood up.

The fans went on a Rampage after Izan scored. Izan ran to the corner flag before sitting down as if to say this is my yard.

The Cameraman near him took a picture which would be deemed fit for the front page news the next day.

A/n: hey guys,for those of you who don’t get what Malicia is,its like having an advantage in fouls. It’s makes the referee more prone to giving the player a foul. Like neymar